1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cotton candy making apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of household cotton candy making apparatus are currently marketed for use by children of younger ages and are designed to be operated by those children and their parents or other adults who take care of them together for making cotton candy. Since the apparatus can be operated relatively easily to make cotton candy that is actually edible, the children can enjoy playing with the apparatus much more than they play with toys such as those with which the children can simply play at housekeeping such as kitchen work or dining. When playing with the apparatus, the children can not only play by themselves but also enjoy a party together with their invited friends.
The cotton candy making apparatus is constructed as follows.
An apparatus main body comprises a cotton candy making portion and an electric circuit for controlling the cotton candy making portion, and an upper body is provided with a tray for receiving cotton candy made at the cotton candy making portion.
The cotton candy making portion comprises a rotary pot made of metal for making cotton candy, a heater with a thermal fuse for heating the rotary pot and a motor for driving the rotary pot. The electric circuit for controlling the cotton candy making portion comprises a driving circuit for the motor for driving the rotary pot, a temperature control circuit for the heater, a fuse for preventing the occurrence of accidents due to overheating of the heater and a main power supply switch for these circuits.
When used, a power supply plug at a distal end of a cord extending from the apparatus main body is inserted into a plug socket, and the power supply switch is turned on. Then, the rotary pot is heated by the heater and at the same time starts to turn at high speed. In this state, the rotary pot is pre-heated for a predetermined length of time so as to increase the temperature of the rotary pot and thereafter an amount of sugar which is required for making a single cotton candy is measured with a measuring spoon provided as an accessory and is introduced into the rotary port from an introduction port in an upper portion of the rotary pot. The sugar so introduced is heated in the interior of the rotary pot so as to be molten into something like syrup, and the molten syrup is discharged in the fiber-like form from slits formed in the circumferential wall of the rotary pot by virtue of centrifugal force generated when the rotary pot turns, whereby a cotton candy is made.
In case the tray fails to be attached to the apparatus when sugar is introduced into the rotary pot, there occurs a risk that the cotton candy so made is scattered around the cotton candy making apparatus, or that sugar which still remains hot touches the hands of the user, leading to the danger of the user getting burnt. Thus, care should be taken not to fail to attach the tray to the cotton candy making apparatus. After play, the rotary pot is caused to turn idly sufficiently, and the power supply switch should be turned off after it is confirmed that no more cotton candy is discharged from the rotary pot. Then, the plug is first pulled out of the plug socket for fear that the cotton candy making apparatus is mistakenly operated. Then, after the rotary pot and the rotary shaft are cooled down sufficiently covers and the tray need to be disassembled from the apparatus for cleaning, so that those constituent components can be kept clean.
In addition, the rotary pot of the cotton candy making mechanism is made of a metal, turns at high speed and is heated to a high temperature by the heater. In order to protect a child of a younger age who plays with the mechanism from getting burnt or injured by touching the hot rotary pot with his or her hand or hands or finger or fingers when the adult taking care of the infant user fails to watch him or her, a resin cover is disposed on the mechanism as a safety means. Additionally, this cover advantageously facilitates the introduction of sugar into the rotary pot.
However, the main power supply switch is a lock switch constituted by curved operation lever surfaces. For example, when an operation lever surface on a side where the contacts are opened is pressed with contacts being closed, the contacts are opened and the switch is locked with the contacts being opened. The switch is easy to be operated since the states of the contacts are shifted and locked by only pressing the operation lever surfaces. However, in case cleaning of the cotton candy making apparatus is started thoughtlessly by turning off the main power supply with the plug of the apparatus being kept inserted into the plug socket and thereafter part of the body of the child user or a thing happens to come into abutment with the main power supply switch, the metallic rotary pot is activated, leading to a risk that the user gets injured seriously.
Furthermore, the play is over and the main power supply switch is turned off after the rotary pot is caused to turn idly, so that the rotary pot is cooled down. Then, there occurs something that makes the adult watching the child user move from the playing area to leave alone the child user thereat with the plug of the apparatus still being kept inserted into the plug socket mistakenly. In these circumstances, if something falls on the switch or the child user gets interested to press the switch so that power is eventually supplied to the apparatus, the apparatus is activated, leading to a risk that the apparatus catches fire or the child user gets injured.
Moreover, the child user may start crying after he or she tries in vain to find the tray, and the guardian gets angry with the crying child and activates the cotton candy making apparatus without the tray being attached thereto. Then, cotton candy scatters around the apparatus and the playing room gets dirty. In addition, playing without the tray may allow the child user to get closer to the rotary pot at the face, and if this actually happens, hot sugar in the form of syrup adheres to the face skin of the child user, who eventually gets burnt seriously.
Furthermore, in case the tray is not properly attached to the cotton candy making apparatus, the tray may be detached from the apparatus while the apparatus is in operation. In case the tray so detached comes into contact with the rotary pot, the rotary pot is locked, and the fuse may be fused due to overcurrent. Alternatively, part of the tray gets melted by the rotary pot which is turning, and the resin so melted scatters around the apparatus, leading to a risk that the child user gets burnt seriously when the melted resin scatters to adhere to the exposed skin of the child user.
Additionally, the cotton candy making apparatus are made to produce beautifulness and loveliness that are liked by girls of younger ages by designed shapes and colors, and when girls get together to have a party where cotton candies are made they enjoy making tasty cotton candies with the lovely cotton candy making apparatus. However, the cotton candy making apparatus are not made to produce an advantage that friends who are looking at those who are actually making cotton candies are made to enjoy themselves at looking at their friends by designing cotton candies to glitter.
Furthermore, in case the motor or mechanism for turning the rotary pot of the cotton candy making apparatus fails and the rotary pot does not turn, children of younger ages cannot determine easily that power is supplied, and the heated heater becomes a danger to them. Additionally, in a case where the guardian is a bit apart from the children, it is considered that the guardian is late in recognizing that power is supplied if he or she cannot hear the operation noise of the rotary pot.
In addition, the cover secured with machine screws or nuts is removed when cleaning the covering net and the rotary pot, and therefore the machine screws or nuts have to be removed, and the machine screws or nuts so removed may be a danger to a baby if they are left in a room where the baby resides.
Furthermore, the covering net and the rotary pot are assembled back to the apparatus after they are dried sufficiently after they have been cleaned. Therefore, the machine screws or nuts for securing the cover have to be kept so that they are not lost until the covering net and the rotary pot are assembled back to the apparatus. Should they be lost, replacement parts have to be sent from the manufacturer, this taking lots of labor hours.
On top of the above, while it is superior in usage, the conventional cotton candy making apparatus have the following problems.
The driving portion of the aforesaid rotary pot is constructed as shown in FIG. 23, brushes 30 formed into plates are provided from left and right sides of slip rings 41 and 42. These brushes 30 are disposed in such a manner as to be pressed against the slip rings with a predetermined force. Namely, the brushes 30 formed into plates are disposed so as to be elastically deformed when they are mounted at predetermined positions and are biased to the slip ring side by making use of the spring characteristics of the material.
While copper having superior electric conductivity is used for the brushes, copper is not a material which is superior in spring characteristics and hence is easy to deform. Thus, since the brushes deform and are not restored to their original shapes in case an excessive force is applied to the brushes, care has to be taken so that there should be nothing which contacts the brushes strongly.
Due to this, the assembling work has to be done with care. When the brushes deform, there occurs a failure of the brushes to contact the slip springs and this generates sparks at contacts between the brushes and the slip springs, whereby the brushes and the slip springs wear or the contacts between the brushes and the slip rings are heated, causing a danger.
The present invention was made in view of the problems which are inherent in the aforesaid conventional technologies and an object thereof is to provide a cotton candy making apparatus in which the location of a main power supply switch is changed so that power cannot be supplied when the switch is touched mistakenly, and the construction of the main power supply switch is modified so that the switch cannot be activated when it is touched lightly, whereby the cotton candy making apparatus is made to be safe.
In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a cotton candy making apparatus in which a safety switch mechanism is provided which is designed to prohibit the supply of power unless a tray for receiving cotton candies is properly and completely mounted, thereby preventing an accident which would be caused by an erroneous usage.
Additionally, a further object of the present invention is to provide a cotton candy making apparatus in which light emitting portions are provided in a main body of the apparatus for illuminating a cotton candy made within a tray formed from a translucent resin so as to produce advantages that the cotton candy so made within the tray can look tasty and that it can be determined with ease that power is being supplied.
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a cotton candy making apparatus in which members such as machine screws or nuts are not used to secure a cover which has to be disassembled and assembled before and after the interior of a rotary pot is cleaned, respectively.
Moreover, a further object of the present invention is to provide a cotton candy making apparatus in which brush devices of a heater for heating the rotary pot are improved so that there is generated no spark between contacts between brushes and slip rings which spark would otherwise wear the brushes and the slip rings and heat the contacts between the brushes and the slip rings.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus comprising a tray that can freely be assembled to and disassembled from a main body, the cotton candy making apparatus being characterized in that a main power supply switch adapted to be locked by being rotated in a predetermined direction while being depressed is disposed at an upper portion of the main body.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the main power supply switch comprising a mechanism in which contacts are not closed in a state in which an operating portion of the switch is depressed but are closed and locked by rotating the operating portion in the predetermined direction while the operating portion is being depressed is disposed at the upper portion of the main body of the apparatus. For example, even in case the guardian has turned off the main power supply switch but has failed to pull out the plug from the plug socket after children have played with the cotton candy making apparatus to make cotton candies and the operating portion of the main power supply switch is struck with a thing or depressed, the contacts are not closed and hence the cotton candy making apparatus is activated in no case. In addition, since it is difficult for children of younger ages to sequentially perform the two operations or rotate the operating portion while depressing the same portion, the children can be persuaded that cotton candies can be made only when the guardian accompanies them.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus as set forth in the first aspect of the invention, wherein an auxiliary switch mechanism in which contacts are closed by properly attaching the tray to the main body is provided on the main body, whereby power is designed not to be supplied by a main power supply switch unless the contacts of the auxiliary switch mechanism are closed.
According to the second aspect of the invention, the auxiliary switch mechanism is disposed which does not allow the supply of power by the main power supply switch unless the tray is properly attached to the main body of the apparatus. For example, since no power is supplied to the apparatus even if the main power supply switch is depressed in case the tray is not attached to the apparatus or is attached thereto in an improper fashion, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an accident that a child gets injured when his or her hand or face touches the rotary pot which is made of a metal and rotates at high speed or that the tray comes off while in operation.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus as set forth in the first or second aspect of the invention, comprising a translucent tray which is provided on the main body, wherein a light emitting portion is provided in the main body of the apparatus for illuminating a cotton candy made in the interior of the tray.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the cotton candy making apparatus has the translucent tray provided on the main body, and the light emitting portion is provided on the apparatus main body for illuminating a cotton candy made in the interior of the translucent tray. For example, a cotton candy in the tray made from a resin having high translucency or the like is made to glitter like a jewel by illuminating the cotton candy in the tray with light, whereby an advantage is produced that the cotton candy so illuminated looks tasty.
Furthermore, a further advantage can be produced that the cotton candy looks more tasty by emitting from the light emitting portion red light representing the color of strawberry or yellowish green light representing melon. In addition, while the temperature of the rotary pot has to be adjusted with a temperature adjusting lever depending on the outside temperature and the humidity of a place where the apparatus is used, the adjustment of temperature can be described clearly understandingly by disposing a temperature sensor in the vicinity of the rotary pot while providing a circuit for changing the color of the light from the light emitting portion depending on the temperature of the rotary pot in the vicinity of the rotary pot and giving in the owner""s manual or the like a statement, xe2x80x9cin case the light does not become red accordingly, please adjust the temperature adjusting lever so that the color of the light becomes red.xe2x80x9d
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus as set forth in the third aspect of the invention, wherein the light emitting portion is constituted by a plurality of light emitting diodes disposed on a portion of the main body which is situated below the translucent tray attached to the main body.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the light emitting portion is constituted by the plurality of light emitting diodes disposed on the portion of the main body which is situated below the translucent tray attached to the main body, and a cotton candy is illuminated from below the tray. For example, it is safe even if the light emitting portion is disposed at a position where children of younger ages can touch the light emitting portion with the hand by using for the light emitting portion a light emitting diode which is illuminated at a low voltage but is not heated, and there is also caused no concern that a cotton candy made gets warmed with the light. In addition, light emitting diodes have strong resistance to vibrations due to its construction, and no maintenance work is required such as replacing bulbs. Moreover, since light emitting diodes are easy to be colored, various colors can be set with ease.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus as set forth in the third or fourth aspect of the invention, wherein the light emitting portion is adapted to flash.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the light emitting portion flashes. For example, the cotton candy making process can be implemented enjoyably to a certain rhythm by designing the light emitting portion to flash to a predetermined tempo or sounds. In addition, the player can enjoy following the light from the light emitting portion while turning a stick to make a cotton candy therearound by designing the plurality of diodes at the light emitting portion to flash sequentially in a flowing fashion, this allowing even boys to enjoy making cotton candies.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus as set forth in any of the first to fifth aspects of the invention, wherein a threaded portion is provided on a cover for the rotary pot which is adapted to be connected to a shaft, whereby the cover can be assembled to and disassembled from the rotary pot by being rotated in predetermined directions.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the nut portion adapted to be connected to the shaft is provided on the cover for the rotary pot of the cotton candy making apparatus, and the cover is designed to be assembled to and disassembled from the rotary pot by turning the cover in the predetermined directions, whereby the cover can easily be disassembled from and assembled back to the rotary pot without using a specific tool when the cover is required to be disassembled from and assembled back to the apparatus when cleaning is required. In addition, since the construction is adopted in which the nut portion is provided on the cover, no small machine screws or nuts are used to secure the cover, and therefore there is caused no risk that the screws or nuts are lost. Furthermore, since fewer labor hours are required for cleaning, frequent cleaning would be no trouble, whereby the cotton candy making apparatus can be kept clean at all times and the guardian can feel safe while allowing children to play with the apparatus.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus comprising a tray adapted to be assembled to and disassembled from a main body as set forth in any of the first to sixth aspects of the invention, wherein carbon brushes which are each biased in a slip ring direction with a spring within a brush holder are provided as brush devices for supplying electric current to a heater of the rotary pot.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the carbon brushes which are each biased in the slip ring direction with the spring within the brush holder are provided as the brush devices for supplying electric current to the heater of the rotary pot, whereby the brushes can be made to contact the slip rings with a constant force by making use of the biasing force of the springs. This provides the cotton candy making apparatus in which no spark is generated between the contacts between the brushes and the slip rings which spark would otherwise wear the brushes and the slip rings and heat the contacts therebetween.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus as set forth in the seventh aspect of the invention, wherein alloy brushes are provided as the brush devices which are each biased in the slip ring direction with the spring within the brush holder.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the cotton candy making apparatus in which no spark is generated between the contacts between the brushes and the slip rings which spark would otherwise wear the brushes and the slip rings and heat the contacts therebetween by adopting the alloy brushes for the brush devices.
Thus, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus which is safe and free from a risk of calling for an accident or a fire through a construction in which the main power supply switch constructed such that the contacts are not closed only by being depressed but are closed by being turned in the predetermined direction while being depressed is disposed on an upper surface of the main body of the apparatus, so that the main power supply switch is not switched on even if the switch is touched carelessly until the switch is turned in the predetermined direction.
In addition, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus which can reduce the risk of an accident such as a fire being called for due to carelessness through a construction in which the auxiliary switch adapted to be activated by attaching the tray to the main body of the apparatus is provided on the main body so that power is not supplied to the apparatus until the auxiliary switch is closed even if the main power supply switch is closed.
Furthermore, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus wherein the light emitting portion is provided on the main body of the apparatus for illuminating a cotton candy made in the interior of the tray, and wherein the light emitting portion is constituted by the plurality of light emitting diodes which are disposed on the portion of the main body situated below the translucent tray attached to the main body, whereby the cotton candy can be illuminated from below the tray so as to produce the advantage that the cotton candy looks tasty.
Moreover, there is provided a cotton candy making apparatus wherein the cover for the rotary pot can be easily assembled to or disassembled from the rotary pot without using the machine screws or nuts but by being rotated when the rotary pot and the like are cleaned after the cotton candy making apparatus has been used. There is provided a cotton candy making apparatus wherein the cover portion of the rotary pot comprises an upper cover member having at the center thereof an embedded nut portion provided with a looseness preventing portion adapted to be fastened to a distal threaded portion of the shaft of the rotary pot, a cylindrical cover member for surrounding the periphery of the rotary pot and a cover net guide portion which clamps a cover net for preventing the mixture of foreign matters into the rotary pot, wherein the cylindrical cover is assembled in such a manner as to be clamped by the upper cover member and the cover net guide portion so that heat from the rotary pot is made difficult to be conducted and can be assembled and disassembled by turning the cover in the predetermined directions, thereby facilitating the cleaning of the rotary pot.
Furthermore, the carbon brushes which are each biased in the slip ring direction with the spring within the brush holder are provided as the brush devices for supplying electric current to the heater of the rotary pot, whereby the brushes are allowed to contact the slip rings with the constant force.
This provides a cotton candy making apparatus in which there is generated no spark between the contacts between the brushes and the slip rings which spark would otherwise wear the brushes and the slip rings and heat the contacts therebetween.